Ali-Reza Bhojani

Contact Details:

Ali-reza.bhojani@durham.ac.uk

Current Activities:

Doctoral Thesis title: "The role of independent rationality as a source of Shariʿa precepts in Shi’i legal theory; In search of an ‘Adliyya reading of Shari’a"

Other research interests include; Muslim or ‘Islamic’ legal theory, The relationship between morality, theology and law in Muslim religious thought, Qur’anic hermeneutics, Shi’i studies, theological ethics, Muslim religious responses to modernity, methodological issues in ‘Islamic studies’ 

Supervisors: Colin Turner and Habib Ahmed

Available for collaboration/comment on:
Muslim religious thought, 'Islamic' law and legal theory, Shi’i studies, traditional Islamic studies in the West

Professional membership:
College of Optometrists, BRISMES

Current teaching

• Rational hermeneutics of Shari’a in Usul al-fiqh
  • Lecturer, Level 2 Undergraduate module, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham (Sep 2011- present)

Previous Teaching

• Islam, State and Government
  • Tutor, Level 2 undergraduate module, School of Government & International Affairs, Durham University (Oct 2010-April 2011)
• Introduction to Muslim legal theory (usul al-fiqh)
  • Module leader and lecturer, level 1 module, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham (Sep 2010-Feb 2011)
• Methodologies in the study of religion and Islam
  • Lecturer, MA distance enrichment module, Islamic Institute of Postgraduate Studies, Damascus, October-November 2009
• al-Fiqh al-Istidlali, The derivation of Muslim religious law; The book of purity
  • Tutor, Level 1 undergraduate module, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, Jan-March 2007

Qualifications:

• PhD, Durham University (2009 - present)
• MA (Distinction) Research Methods, Durham University (2009)
• MA (Distinction) Classical Islamic Studies & Arabic, Al-Mahdi Institute (2008)
• MCOptom, College of Optometrists (2004)
• BSc Hons Optometry, Bradford University (2003)

Publications/Papers:

Muslim meta-ethics and the fiqhi equivalence of profit loss sharing and fixed income modes of financing, forthcoming in Asutay, Mehmet (ed.) Moral Values and Financial Markets: Assessing The Resilience of Islamic Finance Against Financial Crisis,, (Palgrave, expected 2012).

The significance of the theological and philosophical foundations of human rights, Al-Mahdi Institute Working Papers, December 2010. http://www.almahdi.edu/images/stories/researchcentre/articles/rc_dec_article_01.pdf

Ijtihad in traditional Shi’i thought; Obstacles and Inconsistencies, Shia Affairs, Vol. 1 (2008) pp. 113-129

Conference Papers and Presentations;

‘Islamic studies in the U.K., challenges and opportunities’ Invitation lecture at The Research Centre for Islamic Sciences and Culture, Qum, Islamic Republic of Iran, April 28th, 2010

‘The moral deficit in Islamic banking and finance; Muslim meta-ethics and the fiqi equivalence of profit loss sharing and fixed income modes of financing’ To be presented at the FEEM, Italy and Durham IFP conference Moral Values and Financial Markets: Assessing The Resilience of Islamic Finance Against Financial Crisis18th-19thNovember 2009, Milan.

‘Critical realism; from legal positivism in Muslim jurisprudence towards a natural law reading of Shari’a’ Presented at the Warwick Law school conference Re-imaging the Shari’a at the Palazzo Pesaro-Papafazza, Venice 13th-16th September 2009

‘Al-mustaqilat al-‘aqliyya: Theological baggage or potential source of diversity and change in Shi‘i jurisprudence?’  Presented at the 3rd workshop of the Network of British practitioners and researchers on Islamic Law; Diversity & change in Shi’i jurisprudence, Exeter University June 4th-5th, 2009

Academic Awards:

• CASAW 1+3 PhD studentship (2008-2012)
• Bradford University Stidwell Award in Binocular Vision (2003)